PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi on Thursday said the provincial government is taking steps to promote tourism and is giving locals the opportunity to create sustainable livelihood.
He said that the steps were being taken in line with the vision of the founder Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan, investing in people, enabling them to prosper and contribute to the stability of national economy.
Mr Afridi said this during a ceremony held at the chief minister’s house for distribution of interest-free loan cheques under the provincial government’s flagship programme “Mezban”. The cheques were distributed among residents from Swat, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Upper Chitral, Lower Chitral, Abbottabad and Mansehra districts, read a statement issued from the chief minister’s secretariat.
It read that the primary objective of the programme was to enable locals to provide tourists with accommodation in private homes in order to create sustainable livelihood opportunities for local communities.
Interest-free loans being distributed under ‘Mezban’ programme
The ceremony was organised as part of the second phase of the programme and interest-free loan cheques, amounting to Rs81 million were distributed among 59 successful applicants adding that in the first phase, interest-free loans worth Rs72million had been provided to 36 beneficiaries.
Under the programme, local residents are being provided interest-free loans of up to Rs3 million, read the statement, adding that the total cost of the programme was Rs395 million, while Rs200 million had been allocated in the current financial year’s budget.
During his address, Mr Afridi said Mezban programme was a practical manifestation of Mr Khan’s vision, adding that through the programme, residents of tourist districts were being provided opportunities to generate income while simultaneously highlighting the tourism potential of the province.
He said that the province possessed immense tourism potential and the provincial government was taking solid measures to utilise the potential for the economic stability of the province.
Expressing hope, he said that beneficiaries of the programme would play a key role in achieving these objectives and at the same time emphasised that tourists should feel a sense of warmth and respect during their stay.
The chief minister informed that 125 individuals were selected under the scheme, out of which 89 had already received interest-free loans and clarified that the selection of all beneficiaries was made strictly on merit, adding that merit and transparency were the core principles of the provincial government and no compromise had been made on this policy.
Commenting on the political situation, the chief minister said that following the regime change, public was facing hardships and inflation was continuously rising.
He stated that those who undermined the public mandate should reflect on the direction in which the country was heading; however, he said, their interests were contrary to public welfare.
The chief minister also stated that an IMF report had identified corruption amounting to Rs5300 billion.
Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2025